South Berwick firefighter hurt, fire truck destroyed in crash: Assistant chief says operator was returning to station after a call

Monday

Nov 19, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By Oliver Jenkinsojenkins@fosters.com

SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — A town firefighter was transported to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital with undetermined injuries after the fire truck he was operating on Fife's Lane Sunday afternoon crashed.

Assistant Fire Chief Norm Chouinard couldn't provide details on what caused the accident or what type of injuries the man sustained in the crash, which occurred just after 2:30 p.m.

However, Chouinard did say the 3,000-gallon tanker truck, which veered off the road and into a wooded area just in front of 42 Fife's Lane, was likely destroyed in the accident. He couldn't speculate on cost of damage to the vehicle.

Chouinard said the tanker truck was heading back to the South Berwick fire station after being en route to a chimney fire in Eliot. The driver took Fife's Road, which is just off Route 236, as an alternate way to get back to the station. He was the only one in the vehicle.

“It wasn't an emergency run,” Chouinard said. “He was just using the road to return to the station after getting called off the Eliot fire.”

While Chouinard declined to identify the firefighter, he did say the individual was a veteran of the department who has been on the force for several years.

National Wrecker Service arrived to tow the truck from the accident scene. Additionally, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection responded to investigate the potential impact of diesel fuel leaking from the truck, which was halfway down an embankment roughly 10 yards off the road.

Several parts of the fire truck were scattered in the vicinity around the vehicle in the surrounding woods. A number of trees were also toppled as a result of the accident.